


A Garden Full of Hwa

by AlexMel21



Category: Korean Actor RPF, 환불 원정대 | Refund Sisters (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28063770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexMel21/pseuds/AlexMel21
Summary: With the Refund Sisters debuting soon and her group also gearing for their comeback after a year, Hwasa feels a little unsettled.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	A Garden Full of Hwa

**Author's Note:**

> Thoroughly inspired by this tweet: https://twitter.com/siyooluvr/status/1079999248161095682 and also inspired by the interview that Hwasa did saying that she shares the most similar traits with Jung Hwa.
> 
> And because my Hwa-line will always be the top of mind for the rest/calm fics like this. ❤️
> 
> Nothing is real and all of this are re-imagined. None are also done with ill or malicious intent. Please don't sue.

It’s one of those actual day offs when she doesn’t feel like staying indoors – which is a weird thing for a home buddy like her; and weirder because she’s also gearing up for a comeback after their project girl group is done so in her heart of hearts, she knows she has to conserve energy. She’s in between what, two? Three choreographies? Not to mention the numerous photoshoots and fittings they need to do in the span of two months.

Does she feel restless? A little bit. Anxious? Well…

She gets up and goes to the bathroom. She needs to get out and get some air. And this time her balcony won’t do. A change of scenery perhaps? But still very secluded or something.

She turns on the shower and lets the water go warm. Where is she going? Can she go to the park? Walk with her mask on? But it’s too early and there would be people walking about, too. And they’d probably think she’s gone crazy if she just starts singing out of nowhere to the planted flowers and shrubbery there.

She lets the water fall on her hair and begins washing off the sleep and the stress away. She has an idea of where to go to but she doesn’t want to proceed just because she’s really shy.

She won’t get anywhere if she doesn’t move her butt, right?

She fixes her hair and adds light makeup before putting on a big sweater and her comfiest track pants. She pulls up a number on her phone and takes a giant breath.

“Unnie? It’s Hwasa…Are you...are you home?”

_____

She walks down the pathway going to the open parking lot. She bought a box of keto cookies and a small keto cake, she hopes her unnie likes this keto carrot cake. She stops by a corner with small plant boxes next to a really big tree with new seedlings and a couple of blooming shrubbery.

“Oh aren't you so pretty.” She whispers underneath her mask. She crouches down and touches the new leaves of some of the seedlings, humming a nameless, lyric-less song. She continues humming as she touches the flower buds one by one, until she feels a pair of eyes on her.

She turns around and sees a man with a wide-brimmed hat.

“Omo, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to interfere. ” She says as she stands up and almost trips on the boxes of pastries she bought.

“No, no. It’s alright, I’m the caretaker here. They’re new seedlings, just in time for the turning of the season.”

“Oh, hello sir. I just...I just took a look at them. They already look beautiful.” She says with a smile and she raises her brows. The kind man with the wide hat couldn’t see her smile but her eyes show her sincerity.

“I hope I see them in full bloom.”

“If you stop by again, I’m sure you’ll see them.”

Hwasa nods at the man and touches one last flower bud.

“Please grow beautifully and strongly.” She picks up the box of pastries and goes to her car. Her phone rings. As she starts the short drive to her unnie’s place. She answers the phone and puts it on her car’s speaker.

“ _Hwasa? Are you near? I can cook us something, are you hungry? Feel like eating anything?”_

“Unnie, I’m almost there.” She smiles She suddenly feels giddy and excited after seeing and singing to the flower buds and hearing her unnie’s voice again. She starts thinking about bringing home a potted plant. Maybe start with succulents. They’re not so easy to wither, right?

“Don’t move a muscle, unnie. I bought us snacks.”

___

Hwasa parks her car in her unnie’s place and prepares her mask, her bag, and the pastries she bought. She also stopped by a florist to buy a quaint bouquet filled with asters, lavenders, geraniums, and a couple of fall-blooming roses. She locks her car and proceeds to the elevator bay where she’s disinfected by the staff and gets her temperature taken. She doesn’t mind, it wasn’t her first time coming here, but definitely her first time coming alone.

But she also smiles in her mask; while she loves the new found friendship she has with her sunbae-unnies, it’s also going to be quite interesting to actually hangout with their eldest, with just the two of them.

She gets to her floor and rings her door, adjusting the flowers on her and her bag. Jung Hwa opens her door and greets her immediately with a wide smile.

“Hwasa! You’re here!”

“Unnie hello—” but even before she gets to greet her properly, she gets a big hug from her, sorta squishing the flowers she has on her arm.

“Where have you been? I thought you were on your way a couple of minutes ago. Come on in.” Jung Hwa says as she opens the door to her house, ushering in Hwasa.

“Oh I told you, I bought us snacks. Well, you, I bought you snacks. And uh, flowers, I got you flowers.” Hwasa says as she walks in the foyer, and toes off her sneakers. Jung Hwa disappears for a moment to get her house slippers. She places them at her feet and stands up to see the flowers and the box that Hwasa is giving her. Super comes in to take a look at his mom’s visitor.

“Super, annyeong.” Hwasa lets Super smell her hand and legs, his tail wagging happily. Jung Hwa’s eyes go directly to the flowers and gives the lavenders a whiff.

“Oh, they look so beautiful. Thank you. And what’s in the box? I told you I can cook us something.”

“Oh I got you keto cookies and a keto carrot cake. I remembered your diet so I searched for good alternatives to dessert.”

Jung Hwa smiles at Hwasa and goes on to hug her and kiss her cheek.

“You’re so sweet. Thank you for remembering. But I told you, I’m not so strict about it.” Jung Hwa and Hwasa laugh.

“I’m fine with the occasional sugar especially when I’m not the one making the food.”

They walk into the house, and Hwasa instantly gets enveloped by the scent of her unnie’s place. She deeply appreciates the scent of different things and ties memories to scents; – the clothes that Hyori and Jung Hwa gave her, the flowers by the pathway earlier, even the smell of freshly cut grass. And the scent of Jung Hwa’s house now feels very homey to her.

Super follows her to the couch as she places her bag down. Jung Hwa putters at the back, rummaging her drawers for a vase for the flowers.

“Unnie, I’ll sit down here.” Super joins her at the couch, placing his head on her lap. Hwasa scratches his ears.

“I’m surprised you asked me if you can come over. Aren’t you usually just at home on your days off?” Jung Hwa says as she fixes the flowers in the vase she found. Hwasa smiles at Super then turns to her unnie to answer.

“Ne, but today felt a bit different, unnie. Especially since after tomorrow, we’ll be doing work nonstop—I mean, I’ll be doing work nonstop. Jessi-unnie, too. So it kind of feels unsettling…and I didn’t want to coop up at home harboring those feelings and thoughts. So maybe a good walk might help but I also don’t want to wander around and risk people seeing me in this…state… I guess.” Hwasa ends her babble with a sad smile. Super puts his head on her lap and decides to snooze.

Jung Hwa stopped her fussing around when Hwasa started talking about working nonstop. She knows the feeling all too well. Their times are different but the feeling and the way they want to resolve those feelings are the same. She goes to the kitchen quietly and starts fixing tea.

She also knows that Hwasa doesn’t really need her advice, if she reads her correctly. She just wants a safe place to unravel. Or maybe just breathe and say what she feels without being judged or being told what to do about it. She looks at their maknae, who’s absentmindedly stroking Super’s head while staring at the TV, not really watching what’s on.

“I know it’s a bit cold, but do you want to go and see my garden? I’ve planted some new seedlings and some of my flowers are starting to bloom. The colors have started changing too, so you’ll see the autumn colors. I’ll come after you, I’ll just make us tea.”

Hwasa turns her head and nods at her unnie with a smile.

“I’d like to do that, yes.”

She scratches Super’s head one last time and carefully slinks off the couch. She opens the door going to Jung Hwa’s terrace and breathes in deeply. The whole stretch has evergreen trees, potted plants, and flower beds. She spots the patch where there are new seedlings and next to it are the flowers that Jung Hwa mentioned. Some are still closed and some are in full-bloom.

She crouches and looks at the flower buds that are still tightly wound amidst the bigger and bloomed ones.

“Take your time, don’t get pressured okay? You’ll bloom when you’re ready.”

She then breathes in deeply again and closes her eyes. She hasn’t done this in a while, just singing and letting the music take her. It was autumn, and she is reminded of her song. She opens her eyes and sings to the flower buds.

 _Like the bright moon above the clouds even if we’re standing on different roads  
_ _Us at the same place Like the bright moon above the clouds Even with out different appearances  
Even if we’re standing on different roads  
_ _I love ya love ya In the fall, I love ya love ya Just in a dream, I..._

She smiles widely and just took her time to take in all the colors of autumn. She walks over the some of the bigger pots at the other end of the garden and spots the persimmon plant that Jung Hwa got for her late pooch, Tangle. She sits by the stoop and touches the leaves.

 _When the sound of rain touches my heart I think of you my day is filled with you  
This small song prepared for you I hope it reaches your ears I pray, I’ll hope,  
_ _I sing Should I try expressing my fluttering heart..._

Jung Hwa comes out of the garden, with some yogurt cake for Hwasa and the keto cookies that she bought. She lays down the teapot and the plates when she catches the maknae singing. Tears suddenly spring in Jung Hwa’s eyes.

 _The night wind is cold, close the window tightly and sleep, good night_  
_Don’t wake up today and please sleep well I hope a bad dream doesn’t come_  
_If the night comes I’ll be by your side I’ll always shine on your dark night_

Hwasa stops and touches the leaves again before she sees her unnie by the garden couch, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

“Omo unnie are you okay?” She stands up and walks back to the couch.

“Yeah I’m okay. You sing to plants often?” Jung Hwa answers as she dabs her eyes, as some stubborn tears fall down her cheek. Hwasa laughs again, but it’s her way of just stopping herself from crying, too.

“When I feel like it, yes. I think…I think it’s the same with talking to them? It helps them grow faster? Did you like it Unnie? That’s a new song included in the new album. I just thought it fits this pot. Didn’t you say that you talk to your plants unnie?” Hwasa catches herself babbling again. Jung Hwa tilts her head and nods.

“Yes, the song is beautiful, like a lullabye.” Jung Hwa wipes her eyes and starts putting cookies on Hwasa’s plate. Jung Hwa pauses and sighs.

“I talk to my pots here. When I…when I had a difficulty trying to get my voice back before, I’d talk to them all day long, cry mostly.” She tries to laugh it off, and takes a bite of the cookie.

They share a quiet moment and they just listened to the leaves rustling in the garden. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, just the both of them lost in their thoughts and memories. Hwasa brings her legs up and turns her head to look at her unnie.

“Unnie, is it the same?”

Jung Hwa leans back and meets her eyes.

“Hmm?”

“Is it...Is the feeling the same? Just really…running and running? Did you ever get tired?”

Jung Hwa smiles again and takes a sip of her tea.

“You feel really grateful for the work— really, really grateful. And that keeps you going. But…that also makes you forget the more important things. That sometimes you don’t have time to rest. That you compromise your health. That you don’t learn the value and beauty of just being…like this.”

Jung Hwa puts her cup down and also brings her legs up on the couch.

“There was no internet back then,” Jung Hwa has a sad smile on her face, “but you still read the papers. You still…you know what they’re saying. How they’re trying to paint you. And it hurt. It still hurts sometimes.”

Hwasa was mid-bite of her cookie when she fully understood their similarity. She didn’t really say much about the other things that her heart carries but…Jung Hwa-unnie knew. They’re two decades apart but it’s like looking through a mirror.

“And then I just started to focus on what’s important. After that scary moment in my life, I was forced to stop for a while. Hwasa—ani, Hyejin-ah…” Jung Hwa holds on to her hand and places it on her lap.

After her unnie calling her by her real name, she didn’t notice that her tears were silently streaming down her face. Hearing her unnie and how she just reached out to _her_ , the her she hides from everyone because she doesn’t want to see the hurt the pain, and the sadness she carries, was magic.

“Hyejin-ah. Just keep singing. Sing to the flowers and to the wind, let your voice out. Don’t let the important voices get drowned by those who don’t understand or who are ignorant.”

Jung Hwa wipes her cheek gently and smiles.

“Just breathe. And do your own thing, like what you’ve always done. Let them talk, but more importantly, don't lose sight of what you want to achieve.”


End file.
